


In Every Universe

by Persephonee



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bi Bokuto, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, gay akaashi, idk how long this is actually going to be, no beta we die like men, that’s it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27751795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persephonee/pseuds/Persephonee
Summary: “Bokuto do you think it’s possible for two people to fall in love in every reality?”“I don’t know. I think we could though."
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	In Every Universe

**Author's Note:**

> I have to apologize for this in advance. I started working on this last year and I got really excited about it and I got like one chapter in and then I fandom shifted...
> 
> I still love Hiakyuu!! and I want to keep working on this but I don’t think it will happen anytime soon. So, I invite you to enjoy this thing that has been sitting in my fanfic google doc for almost a year now. I actually just made a hasty ending paragraph and for that I am sorry. So I invite you to read this train reck and if you like you can yell at me in the comments.

It always begins the same.

Akaashi Keiji, still deciding which high school to go to, goes to a Fukurodani Academy match. Sometimes he wants to go, in other universes he’s dragged, in one he had only gone because he’d gotten locked out of his house that day. Whatever the case, Akaashi always ends up at Fukurodani, and always ends up falling for Bokuto Koutarou. 

In this one, Akaashi had been asked to go to the match with some acquaintances from Volleyball Club. He’d only ever had acquaintances in this universe.

Akaashi hadn’t thought much about Fukurodani before but after seeing the then, number nine, he itched for a ball. For that smile to be aimed at him, though he wondered what made his hair defy gravity like that.

On his first day, Akaashi’s stomach filled with butterflies as he went through the entrance ceremony and his classes, fiddling with his fingers. The day seemed to drag on forever. He’d already handed in his application for the volleyball, hoping against all odds that their setter had just graduated.

And then he was bowing to the team and introducing himself, along with the rest of the first years. That boy with the strange hair was there. Smiling at the small group of newbies, and Akaashi just about died.

For the rest of his life, he would reflect on how lucky he was that day. Their setter had, if fact, just graduated. He was paired with the boy, who had introduced himself as Bokuto Koutarou. The coach had watched Akaashi toss balls for five minutes before pulling them both aside and asking them to train together.

And then that beautiful, blinding smile was aimed directly at Akaashi and suddenly he felt like he was sitting outside on a clear summer day. 

Their first few practices went well enough. Once Akaashi had gotten used to Bokuto’s speed and power, they became quite suited for each other. They grew closer. Once the almost ace had realized that his amazing setter ate lunch in his classroom  _ alone _ he was there everyday so they could eat together on the roof. 

Then they began studying together. First it was just in the library when they didn’t have practice, which wasn’t often. Then Bokuto invited Akaashi to his house. “My mom has been dying to meet you Akashi!”

“It’s Akaashi.”

“Right sorry. But will you come over? I promise we’ll study and I won’t get distracted.”

Akaashi sighed. “Alright.”

Bokuto’s house was loud. He was the middle child of five kids, and they all still lived at home. It was all well lit and warm, like the whole house was giving you a hug. “Mom! Kana took my blue dress without asking again!” Called a voice as they stepped into the house. 

“Oh come on, I look better in it anyway!” A girl with white and grey hair ran down the stairs, wearing what Akaashi assumed was the dress in question. She was maybe two years older than Bokuto. Another girl, her hair black and grey, about four years older than Bokuto, ran after her, but they both stopped when they saw Bokuto and Akaashi standing in the genkan. 

“Oh my god is that him?” The girl in the blue dress exclaimed. 

“It has to be!” The other girl said. “Hiro! Hana! Get down here! Ko-chan finally brought his boyfriend home!”

Two more girls, both about two years younger than Bokuto bounded down the stairs as the sisters began to crowd the two boys. With all of them talking at once, it was difficult to understand everything that was happening.

“What made you like him?”

“Why Kou? He’s so dumb and you look smart!”

“Wow your hair looks soft, can I touch it?”

“Is it true you’re the prettiest boy in school?”

A bit overwhelmed, Akaashi retreated behind Bokuto’s broad back. “Girls!” 

All at once they all stopped and turned to their mother. “Stop trying to maul the poor boy! Go back to your rooms. Hanako, you should know how to share with your sister by now.” With quiet groans the girls went back upstairs, the oldest, Hanako, Akaashi assumed, looking particularly annoyed.

“Koutarou, why don’t you show our guest your room while I get dinner ready. I assume you have homework?”

Bokuto nodded mutely and Akaashi cautiously stepped out from his shelter. “Alright. Ah, Akaashi it’s wonderful to meet you. My Kou has been talking about you nonstop. I’m so glad to meet you.”

“It’s good to meet you too Mrs. Bokuto. You have a lovely home,” Akaashi said, bowing.

“So polite! You boys go on up, I’ll call you both when dinner is ready.”

Bokuto pulled Akaashi up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind them. “I’m sorry about them. I don’t bring people home a lot and I guess I’ve kinda been talking about you a lot lately.”

The setter could have sworn he saw his almost ace blushing. “It’s alright. Uh, just on question though- why did they call me your boyfriend?” 

“My sisters like to tease me, don’t worry about it too much.”

“Ah, of course. Uh, shall we get to studying?”

They were called down to eat an hour later. While he ate, Akaashi found out that Hanako was indeed the oldest, followed by Kana, then of course Koutarou, and finally the twins, Hiro and Hana.

It was a loud, bright affair, as Akaashi was beginning to suspect everything was in the Bokuto household. “So Akaashi,” Kana said, fixing him with a smile that shot a bolt of fear through his heart. 

“Are you dating anyone?” All the girls’ eyes were on him as he choked at the question. 

“I- no, no I am not in a relationship. Um, I don’t have time for one as I have my studies and volleyball practice.” The sisters shared a look. 

“Is that so?” Hanako continued. “Well then you must know that Koutarou is single as well?”

“Uh…” Akaashi was at a loss for words. His eyes flicked to Bokuto’s face, which was now very pink. 

He stood suddenly. “Ok! It’s getting late, you’re done with your food right, Akaashi? I’ll walk you home!”

They walked in silence. “Uh, your sisters are…” Akaashi trailer off, trying to find the right words. 

“I’m sorry about them. They can be a bit much sometimes.”

Akaashi chuckled. “It’s fine, really! No harm done.”

More silence. “They really like you. Uh, and about all that relationship stuff, um…”

“It’s ok, Bokuto-san, you shouldn’t feel obligated to explain.”

“No! No, I want to. Uh, I’m Bi? And ever since I came out to them, my sisters have been a little protective of me, and kinda jumped on any friends I brought home.”

Akaashi blinked. “Oh,” he said. 

It was all he could manage. They had made it to his house now, and were standing outside the gate. “Thank you for telling me, Bokuto-san. And thank you for inviting me over.”

He turned and opened the gate and went to go inside, but stopped halfway there. He turned back to Bokuto. “And Bokuto-san… I’m gay. Have a nice night.”

Akaashi let out a breath as he took off his shoes. His older brother and sister were sitting on the couch, eyeing him with suspicion. “Who was that?” His sister asked. 

“My teammate, Bokuto-san.”

“Are you-“

“No.”

“Keiji if you keep doing that, we aren’t going to believe you when you say you can’t read minds,” his brother joked. 

Akaashi just hummed in response and went up to his room. He face planted on his bed and buried his face in his pillow. 

Finally he allowed himself a wide, happy smile. He was tired and felt like he had spent too much time in direct sunlight, but god was he happy. That night, Akaashi drifted into dreams full of sunflowers and laughter. 

There were more trips to Bokuto’s house, each time the sisters kept a close eye on them. 

All too quickly the weather began to get colder. One particularly cold day, Akaashi had the bad luck to forget his jacket at home. He spent most of his day inside, but lunch was another story. “ _ You _ forgot something?” Bokuto exclaimed, dumbfounded. 

“Yes, I overslept and was in a rush this morning. We can just eat in my classroom. Or yours if you prefer.” Bokuto scrunched up his face. 

“Nope! Just take my jacket and we can eat still eat on the roof!”

Akaashi didn’t get a chance to protest. Bokuto took off his jacket, draped it over his setter and pulled him up to the roof. 

The jacket was huge on Akaashi, swallowing him up. He spent that lunch attached to Bokuto’s side, eating his lunch and trying not to think about how close they were. 

At practice that day they were doing two on twos. Bokuto hit a particularly powerful straight. After landing from his jump, Bokuto stood there, staring in awe at his palm. “Bokuto-san?” Akaashi had asked, concerned. 

Bokuto looked back at him, smile in its rightful place. “Did you see that Akaashi?”

Akaashi allowed himself a small smile. “Yes, I did see. You did well Bokuto-san.”

When they were walking home, Bokuto gave Akaashi his jacket again. He hadn’t noticed before, but it smelled like oranges and mint and something he could only call sunlight. “Oh! I almost forgot! We have a practice match with Nekoma tomorrow! You’ll get to meet Kuroo!”

“Kuroo?” Akaashi’s mind was still fuzzy from the warm scent of the jacket. Did he wear cologne or something?

“My best bro! He’s a great middle blocker!”

“Oh so you do have other friends,” the setter deadpanned. 

“AKAAAAAAAAAAAAASHIIIIIIIII!” Bokuto whined. “That’s so mean!”

Akaashi laughed. He let the laughter shake through his body, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, Bokuto was staring at him with a look of awe on his face. “What?”

Bokuto blinked, breaking himself out of his trance. “I’ve never seen you laugh that much.”

Akaashi felt his face go pink. “It’s getting dark,” he stated, quickly changing the subject. “We should get home.”

The setter had assumed Bokuto would want his jacket back but when they arrived at the point where they would part ways, he left with only a smile and a wave. He didn’t even give Akaashi a chance to give it back.

Akaashi’s brother was on the couch when he got home. “That’s not your jacket.”

It wasn’t a question. “No I forgot mine this morning, Bokuto-san leant me his.”

“Oh did he?” His brother fixed him with a look, but Akaashi didn’t dignify that with a response. Only went upstairs to his room to his homework. 

Nekoma arrived the way cats always do: first silently, then they start yelling when you don’t pay attention to them. They hadn’t been stretching for even ten minutes before a boy with crazy black hair came bounding up to Bokuto, yelling something that didn’t sound like actual words. Bokuto, of course, responded in the same manner. 

While they caught up, Akaashi became acquainted with Nekoma’s setter, Kozume Kenma. 

“Are they always like this?” Akaashi asked, nodding to the strange display the owl and the cat had been putting on. Luckily it didn’t take them long to calm down. 

“Mhm,” the boy responded quietly. “Even though they saw each other just last week.”

“AKAAASHIIIIIII! Akaashi, this is Kuroo!” Bokuto came bounding over, Kuroo hot on his heels.

“Oya? So this is the Akaashi you can’t stop talking about? You’re right, he  _ is _ really pretty!” Kuroo commented. Bokuto flushed and flailed his arms around. 

“WHAT? NO! KUROO STOP SAYING WEIRD THINGS!” He turned them around and began whispering furiously. 

_ “Bro! He doesn’t know yet!” _

_ “Oh shit sorry!” _

They played four games that day. Fukurodani won three. Afterward, the four of them went out to get ramen. Akaashi learned that Kuroo and Kenma were childhood friends, and he suspected they stayed close for so long because Kuroo had attached himself to Kenma, even though he was a year younger.

There were a couple more practice games after that. Kuroo never failed to rile Bokuto up. Once it was so bad, the just nearly ace was hooting for hours. Akaashi had stuck close to Kenma whenever he could that day.

Then midterms came around and late night practices turned into late night study sessions. More than once, Akaashi fell asleep at his desk or in Bokuto’s room. When that happened, he’d wake up hours later on Bokuto’s bed surrounded by the scent of oranges and mint while Bokuto slept on a futon.

All his work paid off though. He got perfect scores in every subject. Though Bokuto scolded him for overworking himself when he got sick over break.

“Oh Keiji,” his sister said mournfully, shaking her head and handing him a mug of soup.

He ate it carefully, and slowly. Akaashi’s sister wasn’t a very good cook, but it was edible enough. He was trying to get some sleep when his bedroom door opened again. “Bokuto-san?” he croaked.

“Hey hey hey! I heard you were sick, so I brought you some soup! And some books! You like reading right? This book is really popular in America I think!” Bokuto placed a book on Akaashi’s night stand and sat down on the bed.

“Wha-”

“You overworked yourself and now look at you! I should have held you back. But now I know for next time!” There was that sunshine smile again. 

“Bokuto-san please, I’ll be fine, it’s just a cold.” Instead of deflating or pouting though, Bokuto only shook his head.

“Nope! I’m going to nurse you back to health!”

And since there was nothing Akaashi could do to stop him, he did. For three days Bokuto brought soup and kept Akaashi company while he was sick.

“You really didn’t have to do this, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi chided, after the tall owl had brought over one last container of soup. He only shrugged. 

“Keiji?” 

_ OH FUCK! _

Bokuto turned to find Akaashi’s mother standing behind him. She was a beautiful woman, Akaashi was a spitting image of her. 

“Oh, hello Akaashi-san, I am Bokuto Koutarou, Akaashi’s teammate.” Akaashi blinked at how surprisingly polite Bokuto was.

Akaashi’s mother gasped. “Is this that boy who lent you his jacket? Oh, come in, please! My husband and I have been wanting to meet you for so long, but Keiji never brings any of his friends home! Are you hungry? You must be cold out here in this weather!”

She ushered the boys inside and onto the couch, displacing Akaashi’s sister. “Uh oh, mom found Bokuto,” she teased with a sing-song voice.

“Oh hush, you know how important this is.” Akaashi’s mother swatted in her daughter’s direction before turning back to the boys. “Now Minako tells me that you’ve been helping take care of Keiji while he was sick. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here, baby, you know how busy your father and I are with the restaurant.”

“Oh it’s no big deal.” Bokuto stood. “But I can’t stay, I promised my sisters that they could do stuff to my hair.”

“Oh how sweet! What about tonight? Would you be able to have dinner with us?”

“Sure! I’ll just have to tell my mom!”

“Wonderful! I’ll see you at 6!”

“Oh dear,” Akaashi muttered under his breath, wincing.

At six o’clock Boktuto was back at the Akaashi residence, though his hair was wildly different. Rather than his regular spiked hairdo, it was washed of gel and only partially up, with some tufts of hair falling into his face. “You-your hair!”

“Huh? Oh! Yeah… it took longer than expected, so I didn’t have time to get everything up there. Does it look awful?”

“No! No, I think it looks nice. It’s cute even.” Akaashi looked away from his teammate’s face, feeling his cheeks pink.

“Keiji! Don’t make him stand outside all night! Bring him inside!” Akaashi’s mother called.

Akaashi’s parents laid out the food on the table and they all sat down. “Bokuto, are you the one who made that soup?” Akaashi’s father asked.

“Yes! My mom taught it to me!”

“Oh it was wonderful! Now I understand why Keiji recovered so quickly. Usually it takes him a week to recover from being stress sick,” Minako commented.

“Oh it was so kind of you to nurse him back to health. Keiji is so lucky to have such a good boyfriend!” Akaashi’s mother cooed. Bokuto and Akaashi blushed.

“Oh, no, Akaashi and I aren’t dating. He’s my setter, so I get worried when he’s not feeling well,” Bokuto replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Ah.” The parents shared a look.

Bokuto cleared his throat. “So, Akaashi tells me that you run a restaurant?”

“Yes, Yuri runs the finances while I run the kitchen,” Akaashi’s father replied. 

The rest of dinner was pleasant, and civil. To Akaashi’s great relief there were no more questions about their relationship. 

“I had a great time. Thank you so much for having me.” Bokuto bowed.

“Oh come back anytime. Have a good night!” Akaashi’s mother called.

“And you’re sure you don’t want me to walk you home?” Akaashi asked, concerned.

“Nah! I’m good! See ya later, Akaashi!” The setter watched his teammate walk off into the night before he was pulled back into the house. 

“Keiji! That Bokuto is such a nice boy! And he seems to really like you too! And he can cook! You know men who can cook are quite rare, you should keep that one close,” his mother commented.

“Mom, please! He’s just my friend!” Akaashi insisted.

“Whatever you say dear.”

They didn’t see each other until after the winter break. Akaashi had just gotten to his classroom and set down his bag when the noise began. 

“Whoa! Slow down!”   
  


“Is that a second year?”

“Oh it’s  _ that _ second year.”

“I hope Akaashi-san is ready!”

And then Bokuto was there, smiling and slightly out of breath. “AKAAAAAAAASSSSHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

With no regard to anyone else, Bokuto barrelled into the room and picked up his setter in a hug. “Hello Bokuto-san. How was your break?”

They fell back into the easy routine they had before the break… until Bokuto’s first dejected, emo slump.

It was during a practice game against Nekoma. Bokuto’s spikes had been a bit off all day, which led him to begin to pout, and then finally things came to a head. “Akaashi! Don’t give me any more sets today!” he shouted.

“Uh… ok?”

The coach called a timeout after that.

It was Kohana that cleared things up while they were getting water. “Hey. Just go with it. I guess the novelty of having a setter completely devoted to him has worn off.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our setter last year made it very clear that he hated setting for Bokuto, saying that he was too loud and unpredictable. So having you train so much with him this year has really helped him.”

“Ah.”

“Just let him cool down a bit. He’ll be fine.”

Akaashi wasn’t the best at dealing with his upperclassman’s moods. First he began giving him the ball too early, and he kept messing up. Then he waited too long and the tall owl got twitchy and aggressive. So it was a balancing act. Everytime it happened, Akaashi paid close attention to his behavior. He even started keeping a notebook. 

It took a month before he could deal with them efficiently and smoothly. Bokuto had been in a particularly bad mood that practice. Akaashi had given him a few chances before he had stopped giving him the ball. Then the almost ace had begun getting twitchy and restless. 

Akaashi smirked as he gave him a toss perfectly tailored to the owl. The ball slammed into the opposite court with a loud smack. “HEY HEY HEY! Akaashi did you see that?!”

“Yes Bokuto-san. You did very well.”   
  
“Your sets are the best Akaashi!” Once again, Akaashi found that he was at a loss for words. His ears felt hot, and his heart rate picked up a bit, but luckily they were yelled at to get back to practice. 

The weather got warmer quickly. Heavy coats and scarves were discarded in favor of lighter clothing. 

The first training camp had snuck up on them. Bokuto had jumped around, quite excited the entire bus ride there, but when they arrived… 

Bokuto’s bed was immediately shoved into a corner. “He’s like a koala! Or an octopus! He’ll just take hold of you in his sleep and never let go!” Washio explained. “I got stuck next to him last year. Then I traded with Kohana who traded with Komi and then we just decided that enough was enough.”

Bokuto looked like he was pouting, which meant he’d be annoying for the duration of the camp. Which meant there was only one logical thing to do.

Akaashi dragged his bed over to Bokuto’s. “AKAASHI!” he yelled and hugged the setter while the rest of the team watched in confusion. 

Washio’s description was an apt one. That evening, Akaashi had come back exhausted and passed out immediately, but when he woke up in the morning, he couldn’t move. Bokuto had wrapped himself around Akaashi, and he wouldn’t admit this to anyone, but it was nice. Usually Akaashi woke up restless and tired, he’d always had trouble sleeping but… that warm presence and tight hug and scent of oranges and mint, it was just so… calming.

That’s how they woke up every morning of camp. Akaashi always woke first. Sunlight shone through the windows and he enjoyed the peace of his teammates’ easy breathing.

“I heard you joined Bo in his cuddle corner,” Kuroo had teased.

“I knew he would pout and be annoying, so I only did the logical thing.”

“Suuuuuuuuuuuuurre,” Kuroo replied, a shit-eating smirk on his face. Akaashi only rolled his eyes.

They didn’t do many penalty laps since they were doing well in the practices, but still learning how to work together. Akaashi would always remember that camp as when Bokuto finally became  **_his_ ** ace.

They won Nationals that year. In the midst of celebrating, Bokuto had hugged him tight and Akaashi realized he wished the taller boy would never let go.

“We won Akaashi!” 

The captain had patted both of them on the shoulders. “Good work you two! You made an excellent team, as always.”

“Thank you, captain.” Akaashi bowed.

The announcement was made at the meeting with the coach afterward. The coach had taken them out for food in celebration. “Everyone played great today. And I’m sure you all know what comes next,” the captain began. “And I’ve been giving the next captain a lot of thought. And I think I’ve chosen the best man for the job. Our ace: Bokuto Koutarou!”

The team began clapping and cheering for him. “Hey, hey, hey!”

“Akaashi! Be my vice captain!”

Akaashi blinked in surprise, but smiled. “Of course, Bokuto-san.”

They spent most of summer break together. One particularly hot day, Bokuto had pulled him up a grassy hill and into the shade of a big tree. The taller owl sat up against the truck of it while Akaashi sat down next to him. He did his best to stay awake, but the heat had gotten to him. 

When he woke again, his head was in Bokuto’s lap. Bokuto’s hand was in Akaashi’s hair while he scrolled through something on his phone.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Oh you’re awake. Only an hour or so. Don’t tell me you’ve been staying up too late. You can’t get sick again, Akaashi!” And once more that sunshine smile was aimed straight at the setter.

The new school year started up all too soon. Once again they only got one first year, but that also had its upsides: they would work their team into the perfect machine.

And then the ranking for the top high school aces came out. “AKAASHI! AKAASHI! LOOK!”

A magazine was shoved in Akaashi’s face one lunch period, early in the year. Bokuto was listed as the fourth. “Congratulations Bokuto-san. I’m very proud of you.” 

The next surprise came when they got their jerseys. Akaashi was happy with his number 5 but when he saw Bokuto’s…

“Bokuto-san, why do you have number 4?”

“Well, since I’m the captain I figured I’d have the number one, but since you’re a second year, you’d have number 5. So people would assume someone else is the vice captain instead of you. So if I have number 4, I’d still have to stand at the front of the line, but I could still be as close as possible to you!”

“Oh,” was all he could manage. He turned away to hide the blush on his face.

At their first practice game against Nekoma, Bokuto, Akaashi, Kuroo, and Kenma had gone out for food afterward. Kenma complained about getting stuck training some first named Lev.

With everything going on, any reminders that Bokuto was a third year was pushed aside, in favor of spending more time together. Winter came and went. This year, Akaashi conveniently forgot his jacket a lot more that season and Bokuto was only too happy to lend his to his setter. “Can’t have you getting sick!”

Once more, late night practices turned into late night study sessions, but this time, Bokuto made sure to cut Akaashi off at 9:00 everyday. 

“Bokuto-san please, I’ll be just fine if I keep studying,” Akaashi insisted, reaching for the textbook that the ace was keeping out of reach. Stupid muscley, cute, tall, charming Bokuto. 

“Nope, I’m not letting you get sick again! You’re my setter and it’s my job to take care of you!”

“I’ll just study when I go home then.”

“Ah, I thought of that too! Your mom dropped off a bag of clothes for you this morning. You’re staying at my house all week!”

Akaashi’s eyes widened and he dove for his phone and dialed his mother. “Hello Keiji! Are you enjoying your time with the Bokutos?”

“You can’t be serious! Mom, I have to study!”

His mother sighed. “Keiji, you’ve been studying yourself sick for years now. I hate when my baby is sick. I know your father and I aren’t always around to make sure you’re healthy, so I haven’t been able to do anything. Your health is more important to me than your grades. I think this will be good for you. I love you.”

“I love you too.” He hung up and turned to see Bokuto smiling at him.

He still got perfect scores on all his tests. “See? I told you you’d be fine! And now you’re not sick!”

And as much as Akaashi hated to admit it, his ace was right. 

Most of winter break was spent with Bokuto, though not of his own accord. He just showed up and Akaashi’s siblings were always too happy to let him in. Not that the setter minded. More often than not, Akaashi was pulled out of the house and into whatever activity he’d decided they were doing. He once had his hair done by Bokuto’s sisters while Bokuto had been pulled away by his mother.

“Akaashi do you get sick a lot?” Hana had asked, while putting tiny braids into the setter’s hair.

“No, not really. But when I have big tests I tend to study a lot.”

“That’s why Kou-chan made you stay with us for a week right? So you wouldn’t do that?”

“Yes.”

Kana had taken her turn next, using gel to tame his perpetual bedhead. “Have you ever been confessed to?”

“No, I can’t say that I have.”

“What would you do if you were confessed to?”

“It would depend on the person, I suppose.”

Once he had washed the gel out of his hair Hanako had begun putting small curls in his hair. “Is there anyone you  _ would _ consider dating?”

Akaashi blushed. “Oh my god there is! Who is it? It’s ok, we won’t tell!”

The sisters leaned in. “Well... I guess… if your brother were to…”

He was cut off by squealing. “I told you! I told you! Pay up Hanako!”

Hanako left the room briefly and came back with 500 yen in hand.

Akaashi wasn’t really sure when he developed a crush on his ace, but that didn’t stop them from making themselves known.

A couple of days later, Bokuto had built forts out of snow with Kuroo and had pulled Akaashi and Kenma into a snowball fight. Akaashi had jumped when cold snow hit him in the back of the head, followed by Kuroo’s obnoxious laugh. “Hey Kenma! Kenma did you see- AHK!”

Kuroo got a snowball to the face. “Owls vs. Cats!” Bokuto yelled, pulling Akaashi behind one of the forts. He peeked over the top of it only to duck as a snowball sailed over his head. Akaashi rolled his eyes, but smiled softly and began stock piling snowballs.

Bokuto had tried to be sneaky and attack the cats from behind, but ended up getting captured. “Ok Akaashi! We’ve got him, so come on out and surrender!” Kuroo called.

Akaashi had come out from his hiding spot, with his hands behind his back. “That’s right, admit defeat.”

Quickly Akaashi nailed Kuroo in the face with the two snowballs he’d been hiding behind his back. He knew Kenma wasn’t going to do anything to prevent Bokuto from escaping. “You’re amazing Akaashi!”

“Not so loud Bokuto-san.”

They ended up winning, and escaping the cold at Akaashi’s house. He served everyone tea as they huddled under blankets on the couch. 

This time, school starting was slightly more jarring than last year. Akaashi had gotten so used to having Bokuto right next to him, his absence left the world too quiet, and, somehow, darker. And then, in the middle of class Akaashi realized that this strange, silent, dark world would be his world next year. Bokuto would be graduating, leaving him behind. He had to excuse himself to the bathroom.

He walked into a stall and locked the door behind him. He leaned against the wall and covered his mouth as it really sank in and tears began to stream down his face. 

As always, Bokuto met Akaashi at his classroom, but his smile turned into a frown. “Akaashi, have you been crying?”

“No. What makes you say that, Bokuto-san?” How did he know? Akaashi had made sure that there was no trace.

“I don’t know, you just… seem different today.”

The first half of their lunch was spent in unfamiliar silence. “You’re graduating soon,” Akaashi said, finally.

“Yeah! I’m hoping to get scouted for a college team during nationals!” As always Bokuto missed the point.

“You’ll graduate. And then you’ll leave.”  _ And then you’ll leave me. _ He couldn’t bring himself to say it, but Bokuto seemed to understand anyway. 

“I won’t completely abandon you! I’ll come visit all the time! Plus I need to make sure you don’t get yourself sick for finals!”

“You can’t though!” Akaashi was standing now, angry. At or about what he wasn’t sure yet but it felt good to yell.

“You can’t concern yourself with your old underclassman when you’re in university! You’ll have much more important things to do! How could you hold yourself back like that when you’re so amazing?!”

He was crying again. Bokuto had a dumb struck expression on his face. And then he was standing too and hugging Akaashi tight. “I could never leave you behind, Keiji.” 

For once the tall boy’s voice was quiet. And he said Akaashi’s name so tenderly, like if he said it any louder it would shatter and disappear from all of existence. “You’re my setter and I’ll always need you.”

“There are better setters than me out there, Bokuto-san. You’ll find them, and forget about me and-“

“Impossible. You’ll always be the best setter in my eyes. Do you understand, Keiji?” Akaashi nodded, sniffing. 

“Good.” He wanted so badly to kiss him in that moment, but he didn’t. Instead letting Bokuto’s words bounce around in his head. Let himself believe them. For now. 

As the season changed again the thought slid to the back of his mind. Not an immediate threat, but not forgotten either. At the first training camp of the year, his and Bokuto’s beds were shoved into the same corner. ‘The Captain’s Corner’ as it had been dubbed. 

Karasuno had joined them that year, bringing their freak duo. Akaashi loved watching his ace mentor the small orange crow. They truly did mirror each other (Though it did come back to bite Bokuto in the ass). 

They won nationals again. This time Bokuto lifted Akaashi up, letting him sit on his arm, running around the court wildly. Akaashi, terrified, clutched at his ace’s hair for dear life.

When he was set back on the ground, tears pricked his eyes. It felt like they could be the protagonists of the world. But Akaashi knew this was the end. His last game with his ace. 

He was lifted into the air again as Bokuto hugged him. “Thank you, Akaashi,” the tall owl whispered.

The setter locked his arms around Bokuto’s middle. “I’m the one who should be thanking you, Bokuto,” he whispered back.

He ended up crying into Bokuto’s jersey in the locker room when they were supposed to be changing out of their uniforms after the award ceremony. Once he had calmed down, they went to meet with the coach and for a celebratory meal with the team. 

Towards the end of the meal, Bokuto stood, a bittersweet smile on his face. “Everyone played amazingly today, and now you all know what comes next! I am overjoyed to announce that Akaashi Keiji will be captain next year, not that that wasn’t obvious but now it’s official.”

Cheers went up from the table, and Akaashi received many pats on the back. He was happy, but he couldn’t get the strange, cold,  _ empty  _ feeling out of the pit of his stomach.

All too soon it was time for Bokuto’s graduation. He had been given a sports scholarship at Tokyo University, so he wouldn’t be so far away. Despite that though, it didn’t lessen the blow of losing him though.

Before the ceremony Bokuto grabbed Akaashi’s wrist and ran off with him to stand under a big cherry blossom tree. Pink petals fell lightly around them, hung off their clothes and stuck in their hair. “Is everything alright, Bokuto? You seem nervous.”

“What? I’m fine! Really! Uh- I just!” He took a breath and popped off the second button from his blazer. “I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while now, this is kinda my last chance to do it and my sisters will kill me if I don't do it today.” 

Bokuto paused and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Anyway I hope that you’ll accept. But if you don’t that’s cool too, it’s your choice. Do you need time to think about it? There’s no rush!”

Akaashi felt his face go red as the tall owl rambled. He snatched the button out of Bokuto’s hand, rubbing it between his thumb and pointer finger, then grabbed the ace’s tie and dragged him down into a kiss. “You big dummy,” he muttered.

They spent most of that summer escaping the heat inside. Akaashi would sit in his room with Bokuto hugging him from behind while reading a book or Bokuto would lure Akaashi out to get ice cream. They’d hold hands and steal small kisses when they thought no one was looking. Kuroo was disgusted with them (but that’s only because he hadn’t gotten up the courage to confess to Kenma yet).

Akaashi was there to help Bokuto move into his dorm. He refolded clothes transferring them from boxes to the closet. Luckily Bokuto and Kuroo were able to be roommates so Kenma was there too, helping keep things calm and in order.

“Ok, I’ll see you in two weeks.”

“Don’t miss me too much,” Bokuto teased.

“I’ll do my best,” Akaashi promised, rising up on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek.

The two weeks in between visits were rough. Once school started again, the halls felt too quiet and dim. At practice Akaashi looked up, expecting to see Bokuto standing there, smiling, only to find empty air, more than once. “It’s strange isn’t it?” Onaga said, startling Akaashi out of his thoughts.

“Yes. It’s too quiet.”

“He’s not dead. He’ll come visit us. He promised.”

At the end of the two weeks, Akaashi had the feeling that one of the first years had a crush on him, Kai, he thinks. When Bokuto heard this he pouted. “How am I supposed to make sure people know you’re taken when I’m not even there?” he whined.

Akaashi had only laughed and kissed him. “You’ll just have to come visit then, huh?”

It was a few months until Bokuto was able to visit. Until then, Akaashi broke his own strict no phones rule. Only during stretching, and besides he was the captain, he could do what he wanted.

“I have to go, practice is starting,” Akaashi said.

“But I don’t want to hang up!” Bokuto whined.

“Well neither do I!”

“You do it!”

“We are not doing this.”

Bokuto groaned. “I miss you!”

“I miss you too. But I have to go.”

“Ok, then you hang up!”

“No!” 

“How about I hang up?” came Kuroo’s voice and the line went dead. Akaashi pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it a moment. He turned, shaking his head, to catch some first years retreating back into the gym. So he had some eavesdroppers? Looks like it would be extra laps for everyone.

“Um, Akaashi-san,” began their new libro, Haru began. “Um, there have been some rumors that I would like to ask you about.”

“Oh? I appreciate you being so honest. What is it?”

“Well, some people say you have a boyfriend who is in University. Is that true?”

“Yes I do have a boyfriend in University. He was my captain last year.”

Finally some of last year’s third years were able to visit. “Ok! We have some allums visiting today to help with practice. I have some rules listed here for when they are here.”

Akaashi had written the list on the white board that hung in the club room. “Number one: be respectful. Number two: they are better than you. Don’t get upset when you lose.”

Kai had rolled his eyes at this rule, but Akaashi knew this one would be important. “Number three: do  _ not _ touch his hair. You will know who I mean when he gets here. Are we all clear.”

There was some noncommittal muttering. “Alight. They’ll be here soon, so get ready.”

It didn’t take long for the first years to get into the gym. They began warming up with stretches and group exercises. 

And then he arrived. “AGAASHHII!!”

Akaashi turned to find that beautiful sunshine smile pointed at him. Bokuto ran in and picked his boyfriend up in a hug. All thoughts of the first years were thrown from the setter’s mind. 

“Hello Bokuto.”

“I missed you so much Akaash!”

“We saw each other two weeks ago.” Akaakshi cupped Bokuto’s cheek, smiling softly. “But I missed you too.”

The rest of the former team arrived a few minutes later. “Ok lovebirds. We’re not here to watch your PDA!” Kohana called. 

Bokuto stuck his tongue out. “Ok. First years, since our alumni were kind enough to kind enough to come and practice with us, Onaga-san and I will be playing with them.”

The game went quickly. Akaashi and Bokuto fell back into their familiar rhythm, having silent conversations in just one moment of eye contact. 

Next they were going to work on receives.

Akaashi spied Haru staring at Bokuto’s hair as he was talking to Onaga and as if on its own, his hand began to rise to touch the tips to the ace’s hair. Akaashi lightly smacked his hand away. “Don’t do that.”

Onaga peaked behind Bokuto and chuckled. “You may want to attend to your boyfriend a bit, Bokuto-senpai,” he said.

Bokuto turned to find Akaashi checking a clipboard as if nothing had happened. The tall man laughed and swept Akaashi into his arms. He planted a kiss on his cheek. Akaashi rolled his eyes, but was still smiling.

In this universe they go on to be very happy together. Well, to be fair, a happy ending is common for this couple. Eventually they graduate from University, Akaashi becomes a journalist and of course Bokuto becomes a professional athlete (also something that is common throughout every universe). They get married and grow old. They lead simple happy lives. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I know that was not the greatest thing you have ever read. Probably not even in the top 100. Please yell at me in the comments or if you want to put in more effort to your yelling, my tumblr is queenofbinge and my twitter is 223persephone. Thanks for reading!!


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